The returnee conundrum: threat or opportunity?

To forgive and reform?: Quite a number of the returnees are jihadi widows, who were possibly lured to Syria for love and the false assurances of their jihadi husbands.— Filepic

MALAYSIA’s decision to reopen its doors to citizens who had left to join the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria has sparked a national outcry over potential security risks.

The return of these individuals, many of whom still espouse their violent radical beliefs, could endanger society as they might be driven to orchestrate terror attacks locally, or even influence their friends and family to do so.